The mood at Tuesday’s practice was business as usual, as Chivas USA returned to practice to start their work week in preparation for Major League Soccer’s Week 31. The Rojiblancos will host in-state and conference rival the San Jose Earthquakes in the third and final leg of the season series and will look to erase the bad taste from their loss over the weekend at Houston.

The Goats know that records are secondary when it comes to rivalry matches and will be aided by hosting the series finale at the StubHub Center, where they have gradually turned the venue into a difficult place to play for opponents. Chivas have taken points in six of their last seven games at Carson and will square off against a San Jose side looking to remain in contention for the fifth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The ‘Quakes have taken a match in the series and tied another one this season. But as Chivas USA’s Bryan de la Fuente says, any team can be beaten on any given week.

The 21-year-old midfielder is no stranger to the parody and competitiveness in the League, having made his debut in 2010 with Chivas. Heading into Sunday’s match, De la Fuente and the rest of the players with MLS experience know all too well how results can change from one week to the next.

“If you look around the League, a team play bad the previous week and come back the following week and knock off the strongest team,” said De la Fuente, who has started in seven-straight games since re-joining the Goats after a season away from the club. “It changes a lot and it’s a very tough competition because you can’t get too confident over a result because on any given day it can change on you.

“It’s a new week and it gives us an opportunity to have another match this Sunday. [Saturday] was a bad match but that’s past and now our mind is on San Jose and that’s what we are working toward.”

Several players have shared the sentiment of being a resilient group that picks itself up and remains unified despite missing out on the Playoffs. For now, the Rojiblancos’ objective is to continue building confidence while playing for positive results for themselves and the fans.

“If you look, we have played very well over the last few weeks and it’s because of the chemistry of the group. If we have a bad match, we talk about it so that we are all on the same page. That’s why I’m sure that we will come away with a good result this Sunday. Soccer gives you the opportunity to do things better and face rematches with the best of attitudes,” De la Fuente added.